The Taj Mahal Resort & CasinoNew Jersey

This particular Trump investment was considered the "jewel in Donald's golden crown." He even dubbed this branded oceanside casino resort "The Eighth Wonder Of The World." Unfortunately, Wonder 8.0 hit hard times and in 2009 - within a year of opening - the property filed for bankruptcy. When asked during a 2015 Republican debate about his grand Taj Mahal Resort and Casino, Donald replied, "I never filed for bankruptcy." Technically, of course, he's right. For the Taj Mahal Resort and Casino, it was Trump Entertainment Resorts that went bankrupt in 2009, not Trump himself. Of course, that bankruptcy did follow a previous 2004filing for bankruptcy just five years earlier - also in New Jersey - by Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc.

So, the system works, folks, and for Teflon Donald J. Trump, it's worked by relieving him of all his debt, four times so far in all, across the entire portfolio of Trump's holdings. In 2000 The New York Times calculated that Donald was responsible for $900 million of debt personally before his businesses were "restructured." Of course it has been reported that Trump's creditors often ended up with pennies on the dollar and that these failures soured Mr. Trump's relationships with a number of U.S. banks.

Cockles & Mussles

"He put so many good contractors out of business." That's the story you hear if you ask a myriad of businesses throughout New Jersey.

“It was one of those things, I mean it was Donald Trump, what could go wrong?” What could go wrong indeed.

CNN

Building Sand CastlesTrump's Casino on the Ocean

In 1990, Michael Diehl was just a small business owner. One day, when Donald Trump was putting together his Atlantic City investment The Taj Mahal Casino Diehl got the big call. There was going to be nothing like it. Grand on a grand scale. As the build finished, Trump Ent. Resorts went bankrupt, lenders lost over $1,000,000,000 (that's a billion folks) and more than 1100 people were laid off. Diehl only lost around $30,000 so we really don't know what he's complaining about.

The Briefing with Michael Diehl

Marty Rosenberg Testimonial

Trump contracted lots of local businesses along the way to getting his Taj Mahal built. 1000s of jobs were created through his hiring of 253 individual contractors. Now that is economic growth at its finest, right? Upon completion, he owed a reported $70 million, that's $70,000,000, to small businesses in NJ and NY. In one of Donald's smartest moves yet, he filed bankruptcy. That's one way to come in under budget. Then he sold the casino to his billionaire friend Carl Ichan who Trump promises to put in charge of "trade" once elected.

AFL-CIO

Trump GOP Debate 2015

Let's set the record straight. Donald has NOT gone bankrupt. In this 2015 Republican debate, Chris Wallace says, "Trump Casinos and Hotels have gone bankrupt four times over the last quarter century," adding, "My question is this, 'With that record, why should we trust you to run this country?'" You can see Donald's response here. He'll tell you, out of 100s of deals, he has used the bankruptcy laws of this country only 4 times. "I'm very proud of the job I did." ~ D. Trump

FOX News Republican Debate August 6, 2015

This is just an audio recording. So hit play.

These people were killers

When the subject of the Taj Mahal Resort and Casino came up again during a 2015 Republican debate, Chris Wallace asked about the bankruptcy and the lenders that were left behind. Listen here to WYNC's radio reporting as Trump brings some reality to the table, saying, "First of all, these lenders aren’t babies. These are total killers. These are not the nice, sweet little people that you think, OK?"

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